Private Hire Fleet Size

David Kurten: What was the number of private hire vehicles registered with TfL on 1st May 2000, 1st May 2004, 1st May 2008, 1st May 2012, 1st May 2016, 1st May 2017, 1st May 2018, and 1st May 2019?

The Mayor: Transport for London holds this information according to each of its financial years which end on  31 March each year. Please note that the licensing of private hire vehicles commenced in April 2004.
Transport for London financial year
Number of licensed private hire vehicles
1999/2000
0
2003/2004
0
2007/2008
46,911
2011/2012
53,960
2015/2016
77,687
2016/2017
87,409
2017/2018
87,921
2018/2019
88,113
2019/2020
91,016
(As of 1 September 2019)

Taxi with Well-Being Issue seeking support

Keith Prince: Are you aware that a taxi driver has reportedly recently been told in a telephone conversation with LTPH that his taxi licence is under review despite both you and TfL telling drivers that they should "empower" themselves and seek support for any well-being issue? Do you recognise that this contradicts your previous messages with regards to drivers seeking support?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) and I have been clear that it is essential that drivers seek medical help whenever they need to. As the licensing authority and regulator for London's taxi and private hire services, TfL takes the health and wellbeing of licensees seriously and wants them to feel empowered to seek medical help.
TfL has recently published information for licensees on various ways that drivers can get the help, advice and support they need at https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire/licensing/health-and-wellbeing.
Taxi and private hire applicants are required to meetDVLA Group 2 medical standards,and once licensed must tell TfLof any changes to their medical circumstances. This is to ensure the safety of licensees and their passengers. Licensees should seek treatment for any medical conditions at the earliest stage possible, to ensure they receive appropriate treatment. Licensing action is only taken if the licensee does not meet DVLA Group 2 Medical Standards, which could present a risk to customers and indeed the licensee. In the vast majority of cases, if medical help is sought and treatment is undertaken, it is unlikely that TfL will need to take licensing action.
It would be inappropriate to discuss individual licensing cases in this forum. Please provide me with details of the specific case you are referring to and I will ask TfL to investigate.

Lessons from Croydon Tram Crash

Keith Prince: The 2018 Loughborough University Bus Driver Fatigue Study states at Paragraph 3.2.2: "Within London bus driving, no operator has an explicit policy for fatigue management. This might be expected as TfL does not mandate fatigue management policy.” Given that this report was conducted two years after the Croydon Tram Crash, does it concern you that it would appear no lessons about Fatigue Risk Management learned from the crash investigation were applied to London’s Bus Operation?

The Mayor: Some of the learning from the Sandilands tragedy has resulted in parallel activities on the bus network, and Transport for London (TfL) is looking at fatigue across its bus and rail services.
For example, the Guardian fatigue detection and alert system introduced to trams was quickly investigated and trialed on RATP Dev buses in November 2017, with the costs picked up by TfL’s Bus Safety Innovation Fund. The results of this work have been shared with other bus operators in London.Bus operators must also now develop robust Fatigue Risk Management Systems (FRMSs) to be able to bid for TfL bus route tenders from summer 2020.
While common experiences will inevitably allow one transport sector to learn from another, there will also be more unique operations that require bespoke solutions. This is why TfL also commissioned independent bus driver fatigue research from Loughborough University.

Taxi and Private Hire Trade (8)

David Kurten: What percentage of (i) private hire drivers (ii) taxi drivers have been tested forcustomer service?

The Mayor: Transport for London (TfL) does not administer a specific customer service test for drivers, however all drivers must meet TfL’s licensing requirements in order to be licensed.
Full details of the licensing requirements for taxi and private hire drivers are available on TfL’s website: www.tfl.gov.uk/info-for/taxis-and-private-hire.
TfL also has its own taxi and private complaints process and will take action in instances where a driver’s behaviour falls below the standards that are expected.

TfL Licences

Susan Hall: Using their registered address, can you provide a breakdown of the number of TfL-licensed private hire vehicle drivers, by borough for London, and by county and/or city for those outside of London?

The Mayor: Transport for London already publishes this information on its website and will be updating it later this year:http://content.tfl.gov.uk/taxi-and-private-hire-driver-postcode-data-june-2017.pdf